hegevshexConfusable pair

Which to use

“hege” and “hex” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#29,621
“hege” frequency rank
#35,833
“hex” frequency rank
65454
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hege hex
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs hegen 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs hexen

Where the eye mixes hege and hex

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. hege runs 4 letters (CVCV) against hex's 3 (CVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
hege
3 ch
hex

Why the eye confuses hege with hex

A purely visual mix-up. hege ([ˈheːɡə]) and hex ([hɛks]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65454, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hege is recorded at frequency rank #29,621, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈheːɡə]. hex is at rank #35,833, tagged as averb, pronounced [hɛks].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 65454, this pair ranks #606,377 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of hege vs hex

Shared letters: eh. Private to "hege": g. Private to "hex": x.

"hege" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "hex" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • hege ← ehge · heeg · hegge · hgee · hhege

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "hege" for "hex" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈheːɡə] versus [hɛks]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "hege" or "hex" show up more?
"hege" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,621 in our German list, against #35,833 for "hex". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "hege" and "hex" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "hege" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "hex" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #606,377 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hege" and "hex" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "heel vs hex". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #606,377 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list